NW Metalworx Music has partnered up with our friends at Heaven & Hell Records to help co-promote the reissue of CRUELLA's ‘Vengeance is Mine’ album on Vinyl/LP from Metalworx and H&H Records reissues of the CRUELLA albums ‘Vengeance is Mine’ and ‘Shock the World’ on Compact Disc.

“Jeremy Golden, Heaven & Hell label Records owner, approached us about the possibility of joining forces and helping each other get wider distribution worldwide for our labels - as well as working on re-mastered reissues of both classic CRUELLA albums originally released in the late 80s and early 90s. ” –James Beach

A little about the band: CRUELLA was formed by Roger DeCarlo in early 1986 after his previous band XINR folded in late '84 due to the deaths of two founding members. The original lineup featured DeCarlo on lead and rhythm guitar, co-songwriter, and bassist Kate "Fate" Wilson, Kirk Johnson on second guitar, Wes Johnson on drums and Rick Nolen on vocals. They recorded their first demo, ‘Power Metal’ that year and started playing shows. A while later Kirk went into the army and Wes had to move from Portland. Drummer Dave Hval came on board and it became a four piece. Wilson was soon fired after that and bassist Rob Conrad replaced her and the band was solidified. After many local gigs and another popular demo tape, Metal Revenge, the group landed a deal with US Metal records in Germany for their two album releases. Nolen left after ‘Vengeance is Mine’ was released and Ex-Iscariot singer Terry Kysor stepped in on vocals for a short while. Later Hval replaced him on vocals for the next album, ‘Shock the World’, in 1990 – with Conrad also handling some of the vocal chores. The band broke up in mid-1990 initially but reformed the following year with DeCarlo, Conrad and Charlie Nelson on drums. The band broke up again in 1992 for good.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of this 1987/1988 debut album by the Portland, Oregon band. NW Metalworx Music will be reissuing ‘Vengeance is Mine’ in a limited to only 500 hand-numbered copies on high-quality orange & black vinyl with new jacket artwork, liner notes, lyrics and more. The first time the album has ever been released on vinyl in the US.

In addition, Heaven & Hell Records plan to reissue both CRUELLA – ‘Vengeance is Mine’ and the band’s 1990 follow-up ‘Shock the World’ on CD in a limited 500 pressing. Each album will be re-mastered and packaged with a special booklet including new jacket artwork, lyrics, liner notes, and photos.

“CRUELLA was one of the first bands I looked into for re-issuing all those years back when H&H first started doing reissues. I’m very excited to finally see this project happening. These two albums certainly deserve to be put back out for the metal fans, and time seems right for it to happen.” – J. Golden

“Since we were already doing a 30th Anniversary reissue of the first CRUELLA album on limited edition vinyl LP it made perfect sense to join together on the CD releases as well. NW Metalworx team member James R. Beach is working directly with CRUELLA guitarist Roger DeCarlo on the Heaven & Hell CD releases to provide the liner notes for the booklets, source material for the music, and the artwork.” –James Beach

CRUELLA recorded killer power metal with elements of thrash along the lines of Savatage, Metal Church, Sanctuary and others. These two albums are sure to satisfy any fan and collector of U.S. power metal from the golden age of the genre.

Both the LP and the CDs are scheduled for a late spring/early summer 2017 release and will available directly from both labels and at various stores and dealers worldwide.

Monday, May 29, 2017

Filmed partly live and in their practice room the video gives an insight into the fun and violence that Grindpad stands for. And of course not even the video is safe from the shark infestation!

Putting’ back the violence in Metal

In Autumn of 1986 (ok, 2006…), guitarist JG was asked by some local musicians to join a metalproject.An on & off thing, nothing serious by that time. The name Grindpad was mentioned every now and then.

After a few months, Axel joined the (then still nameless) project.

Although it was more of a Death/Grind-band back then, JG and Axel soon realized that this Grindpad project was the perfect vehicle for them to use, to release for their hunger to make old-school violent Metal.

Bored to death by the whole new wave of the countless gutless, whiny, death/core/fashion/whatever-bands, they knew that there was a place for them to bring the aggression back in Metal, as if it were a 1985 Exodus show!

From mid-2007 on, Grindpad became the official name, and the machine started rolling.

Cool shows and two EP’s, leading Grindpad to win the Dutch Metal Battle in 2010. More shows followed among which were Occult Fest and shows supporting Bolt Thrower, Benediction & Tankard.Bandmembers came & went, but the two-guitar-assault-engine (JG & Axel) always stayed the same.

Then, in 2011 the machine collapsed when three out of five members left...Instead of quitting, JG & Axel were more determined than ever to keep the monster alive.It didn’t need to be ‘brought back’; it was never dead…

Having never been fully satisfied with the musical direction, they decided that now was the time to switch one hundred percent towards the music that they always wanted to bring: violent, aggressive, old-school, non-melodic, merciless, hacking THRASH!

The philosophy being: one Slayer/Exodus/Pantera song destroys an entire deathcore-army in terms of sheer energy and aggression.

In 2012 Olivier and Remy joined Grindpad.

With Olivier’s aggressive vocals and Remy’s pounding low bulldozer sound, the whole band was in the right mindset, and started writing an entire new set of songs.To help out on drums Paul Beltman (River of Souls, Ex-Sinister, ex-Judgement Day) was willing to put in his aggressive no nonsense drums and Grindpad was ready to attack again.Now armed with their new EP “SharkBite!”.

Grindpad aims for the things that are mostly neglected in Metalnowadays:Aggression, violence, anger.That is what Metal is all about (and always should be).

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Any review of this album won't fail to mention, the legacy of death metal legend Kam Lee, the man who was part of Mantas, you know that pre-Death band who released the demo 'Death by Metal', which sent shockwaves through the underground the effect of which is still felt today. The very same man who went on to join Massacre and later continued his life in extreme metal with Denial Fiend. Kam Lee was also one of the most important pioneers of the now established and infamous death metal vocal style, helping to take metal vocals to the extreme and then some. Now here we have the debut album form Akatharta which means unclean spirit and comes form the Greek translation of the bible. Akatharta play what at its core could be described as Funeral Doom / Drone. The band along with Lee consists of members from Death Grind band Cropsy Maniac, with Aaron Whitsell taking care of guitar and bass duties and Travis Ruvo handling drum duties. Think Skepticism and Thergothon, and you are close to the sound of "Spiritus Immundus", Latin for Spirit of Impurity which ties in with the bands name. However that would only just scratch the surface to the depths of ghastly and otherworldly terror that this album draws from. Something altogether eerie has been captured here. The very fact that the album features actual EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) captured from all across the globe, gives an overall vibe that is unsettling in its unnerving creepiness. The albums plodding riffs are sprawling in their scope with a sense of foreboding, that of lost and aimlessly wondering spirits. To feel this album and to really understand its genius you have to listen to this in one sitting, preferably alone in the darkness, late at night. When I did this and really let the album carry me away, I can tell you here and now the effect was not one of comfort but of being dragged unwillingly away to an abysmal void, An album that will leave a haunting mark upon the underground!

The new album of the Italian Occult Doom/Heavy Metal Band MALAMORTE „Satan Goes To Heaven To Destroy The Kingdom Of God" is now available in our webshop. Safe 1 Euro during the pre-order time. The official releasedate of the album is the 9th of June 2017.

Tracks:1. Intro2. Thorn in the flesh3. Waiting for the end of Christianity4. Unholy Cult5. Satan goes to heaven to destroy the kingdom of god6. Intramezzo7. Blasphemies for the Horned God8. Ode to Damnation9. Aut Satan aut Nihil10. Outro

Opus Diaboli was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2005. It all started in the mind of guitarist L.W.Alexander and soon he recruited Samiel (bass), Abbadon (vocals) and S.Blood (drums). Not long after the band started to play live they recorded their first demo "The Past Is Alive". In 2006 the band's first album entitled "Black Metal War" was released. After gigging in support of the album and some differences arose between Abbadon and LW Alexander, Abbadon left the band as a result and LWA started to do vocals. From this point on LW Alexander took overOpus Diaboli as his solo project. In 2007 "Under a Pagan Sky" was recorded and Opus Diaboli started to play live with some of the biggest names in black metal such as Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Nocturnal Depression, Taake e.t.c. In 2010 "Better to be a mortal than a crucified whore" was recorded.

The latest album "BLACK LIGHT OF DESTRUCTION" is pure Black Metal from beggining to end, it is the synthesis of 12 years within the scene, and the end of an era for Opus Diaboli. Songs were written from 2005 to 2016 but each of them have a common concept... To destroy the veils of what is shown in order to seek and find truth! Artwork and font done by Paint-It-Black Design.

Track-list:

01. Ilmarinen02. Glory In Steel03. Luciferian Black Light04. Red Battlefield05. In Flames06. Better To Be A Mortal Than A Crucified Whore07. Rivers Of Blood08. Hymn Of Ragnarok

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

CUSTARD has released a new video for the song "Queen Of Snow". That song is on the album "A Realm Of Tales", which was released on May 19th, 2017 via PURE STEEL RECORDS.

Since the beginning CUSTARD were a phenomena in Teutonic Steel. From 0 to 100 they bursted into the scene with great old school Heavy Metal songs. Of course a lot of bands play that style, but CUSTARD always made the "more" in songwriting, power and melody.

Fortunately nothing has changed for CUSTARD these days. Vocalist Olli Strasser and his two guitarists Stefan Absorber and Carsten Reichart still find their own way to create great riffings and melodies based on the concrete of Chris Klapper and Markus Berghammer. The lyric themes vary from catchy to extraordinary and with small -yet precious- ingredients like folky tunes along other little enrichements the songs get this special "thing" to make it a must for fans of HELLOWEEN to JUDAS PRIEST. "A Realm of Tales" leave an overall statement: The masters are back!

The British heavy metal veterans Mythra, that last month released a brand new studio album entitled "Still Burning", released a video clip to one of the new songs, entitled "A Call To All". The video has been directed by Oliver Fowler, and can be seen below

"Still Burning" is available as a vinyl LP, CD, and digital download, and was released via High Roller Records. "It’s the first time the band has gone into the studio and recorded a complete album all in one go. We flew out to Poland in October 2016 to work with Bart Gabriel as producer. It was a superb experience and we all had a great time working with him. We were totally blown away when High Roller Records signed us to record the album and cannot thank them enough. Their support has been incredible!" says Mythra vocalist, Vince High. "We intended to stay true to ourNWoBHM roots and achieved our goal. The eleven tracks have tons of power and energy, twin lead guitar breaks, driving bass, thunderous drums and big choruses. Everything fans would expect from a Mythra album", he adds.

The album’s cover artwork was painted by Roberto Toderico, an Italian artist known for his previous collaboration with Mythra, as well as with other notable NWoBHM acts such as Tygers Of Pan Tang and Quartz.

Mythra‘s reunion was a major event for many NWoBHM fans around the globe. Their legendary first recording from 1979, entitled "The Death And Destiny EP", has cult status and stands alongside Iron Maiden‘s "The Soundhouse Tapes" released in the same year. The band has a great legacy, which has inspired and continues to inspire Metal bands across the world - including Metallica, whose members have cited Mythra as one of the influences on their early recordings. Two years ago Mythra released the "Warriors Of Time: The Anthology" album, which featured a collection of classic tracks recorded between 1979 and 1982 along with five songs written and recorded in 2015 following the band’s reunion performances at Brofest UK and the Keep It True festival in Germany, both of which attracted fans from across Europe, the USA and South America.

Slovenia's Pyroxene formed back in 2012 and played as Crimson Harvest for 3 years before that and now here we have their debut EP, excluding the stand alone single 'Helium 3', from 2015 which is included here. So what we get is three new songs along with a cover of Black Sabbath's 'Electric Funeral', and the aforementioned 'Helium 3'. They seem to have put all of their focus into making these songs count and they are great tracks of classic, traditional, heavy metal. Think Nwobhm in a similar vein to a band like Angel Witch with a slight touch of Wicthfinder General but only a hint, this is in no way a doom metal album. The original tracks are all good with memorbale riffs, however the Sabbath cover is a bit pointless. Now don't get me wrong, Sabbath are my all time favourite band and Pyroxene do the song justice but this cover does nothing for me, probably because I know this song inside out. That would be my only complaint and it is only because I would like to hear more tracks from the band themselves. I get the feeling and I hope this is only the start. A promising debut.http://www.pyroxene.eu/https://www.facebook.com/smrt.in.razdejanje/http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Pyroxene/https://deathdestruction.bandcamp.com/releasesRating system: